“Have you noticed a difference in the spelling of Nikolay Zherdev’s name?

Last week, Zherdev requested a change in spelling of his first name. As it turns out, no one was spelling it wrong by using “Nikolai” instead of “Nikolay,” as he requested. Nikolai is how it had been spelled since he entered the NHL in 2003.

Zherdev arrived in Philadelphia from Russia on Sept. 14, after a delay in getting a work visa. On his Ukrainian passport, Zherdev’s name is spelled “Nikolay.”

That presented a problem when Zherdev wanted to cash his first paycheck of the season and the names on his check and passport didn’t match.

Rather than him flying back to Ukraine to have the problem solved, the Flyers simply changed the spelling of his first name to match his passport and updated the league directory.